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Amazon satellites go into orbit, boosting Starlink rivalry

Atlas V rocket launch with Project Kuiper satellites
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket sends Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites into space. (ULA Photo)

A powerful rocket sent the first batch of 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network into low Earth orbit today, marking a milestone in the company’s multibillion-dollar bid to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

Today’s liftoff came nearly three weeks after the first attempt was scrubbed due to weather concerns. This time, the clouds and rain showers stayed far enough away for United Launch Alliance to launch its Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:01 p.m. ET (4:01 p.m. PT). ULA used its most powerful version of the Atlas, with five solid-rocket boosters attached to the first stage.

“Go Atlas … Go Centaur … Go KA-01,” launch managers declared in the final seconds before liftoff.

The rocket’s Centaur upper stage delivered Amazon’s satellites to an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers). In a posting to Threads, ULA said the satellites were deployed successfully. And in an online update, Amazon said its team “established contact with all 27 satellites, and initial deployment and activation sequences are proceeding nominally.”

The satellites will use their onboard electric propulsion systems to settle into their final intended orbits of 392 miles (630 kilometers) under the management of Project Kuiper’s mission operations team in Redmond, Wash.

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Amazon sets a date for milestone Kuiper satellite launch

Delivery of Amazon Project Kuiper payload to Florida launch facility
United Launch Alliance delivers the Kuiper-1 payload to its Vertical Integration Facility in Florida. (ULA Photo)

Update: The April 9 launch attempt was scrubbed due to weather concerns, but Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites were sent into orbit on April 28.

Amazon and United Launch Alliance have set April 9 as the date for the first launch of full-scale satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network.

ULA said the three-hour window for the Atlas V rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida is scheduled to open at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) that day. ULA is planning a live stream of launch coverage via its website starting about 20 minutes ahead of liftoff.

Amazon said next week’s mission — known as Kuiper-1 or KA-1 (for Kuiper Atlas 1) — will put 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers).

ULA launched two prototype Kuiper satellites into orbit for testing in October 2023, but KA-1 will mark Amazon’s first full-scale launch of a batch of operational satellites designed to bring high-speed internet access to millions of people around the world.

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Amazon Web Services aims to optimize AI in space

Illustration: D-Orbit satellite platform in orbit
Amazon Web Services tested orbital data processing in 2022 on D-Orbit’s ION satellite carrier, shown in this artwork. (D-Orbit Illustration)

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are turning into requirements for space operations, and Amazon Web Services is optimizing its products to reflect that view, according to the former Air Force major general who’s now in charge of AWS’ aerospace initiatives.

“AI, ML, generative AI have become table stakes for our future on-orbit systems and capabilities,” Clint Crosier, director of aerospace and satellite solutions at AWS, said today during Booz Allen Hamilton’s annual Space + AI Summit. “We have reached the limit of human capacity to digest petabytes and petabytes of data in real time and make any sort of intelligent decisions about them. We’ve culminated, so we must further embrace AI, ML and generative AI capabilities for the future.”

Crosier and other speakers at the summit, conducted at the headquarters of the Air & Space Forces Association in Virginia, pointed to the rapidly rising number of satellites in low Earth orbit as a major factor behind the need for more sophisticated AI tools. Over the past decade, that number has risen from about 1,300 to more than 10,000. Keeping track of all those satellites is challenging — and it’s just as challenging to send all that data down to Earth for processing.

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Starcloud raises another $10M for data centers in space

Illustration: Starcloud data center being assembled in orbit
An artist’s conception shows data-center spacecraft being added to an orbital array. (Starcloud via YouTube)

Redmond, Wash.-based Starcloud got its start just last year under a different name — Lumen Orbit — but the newly renamed company is already filling out its seed funding round with $10 million in fresh investment for space-based data centers.

The new influx of capital comes after December’s announcement that the startup brought in $11 million from investors including NFX, Y Combinator (or YC, for short), FUSE, Soma Capital and scout funds from Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. Starcloud graduated from Y Combinator’s summer cohort last year.

The additional funding comes from previous seed investors and several new venture capital firms in the form of a simplified agreement for future equity, or SAFE. If you add up the $11 million and the $10 million, “it can be thought of as a $21M seed, which is one of the highest-ever seed rounds for a company coming out of YC,” Philip Johnston, Starcloud’s CEO and one of its founders, told GeekWire in an email. Johnston said Starcloud doesn’t intend to identify the new investors until a Series A funding round takes place.

Starcloud’s big idea is to place a network of megawatt-scale computer servers in Earth orbit, powered by grids of solar panels that could stretch as much as 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) in width. Such space-based facilities would offer alternatives to terrestrial data centers that are taking up increasing amounts of territory, gobbling up increasing amounts of power, and stirring up increasing levels of controversy.

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Amazon ships satellites for Kuiper broadband network

Amazon Project Kuiper satellites being prepared for shipping
Project Kuiper satellites are packed inside containers for transport to Florida. (Amazon Photo)

Amazon is providing a sneak peek at the satellites that are being shipped to Florida for the launch of its Project Kuiper broadband network — well, maybe not the satellites, but at least their containers.

“Late last year, we began shipping flight-ready satellites, and even more have been on their way in recent weeks,” the Project Kuiper team said in a posting to LinkedIn.

The first batch of production-level satellites is due for launch sometime in the next few months on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That’ll follow up on the successful testing of two prototype satellites that were launched on an Atlas V in October 2023.

Eventually, 3,232 satellites are slated to go into orbit to provide high-speed internet service. Under the terms of Amazon’s license from the Federal Communications Commission, half of those satellites are to be launched by mid-2026.

Project Kuiper would provide added competition for SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently dominates the market for satellite broadband connectivity with 5 million subscribers. Amazon is planning to start rolling out Project Kuiper services by the end of this year.

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T-Mobile and SpaceX provide satellite links amid LA fires

T-Mobile support truck on street in LA wildfire zone
T-Mobile’s support trucks hit the streets in fire-threatened neighborhoods of Los Angeles. (T-Mobile Photo)

T-Mobile has opened up direct-to-cellular emergency texting over SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network on a temporary basis in areas affected by this week’s catastrophic wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

In a news release, Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile said the satellite service can be used to send texts to loved ones, deliver wireless emergency alerts and enable 911 texting. “While SpaceX’s direct-to-cell constellation has not been fully deployed, we are once again temporarily making this early test version available for those who need it the most,” T-Mobile said.

John Saw, T-Mobile’s chief technology officer, pointed out in a posting to the X social-media platform that the system should work even in areas without commercial power or terrestrial cell coverage.

Satellite texting could be a lifesaver in areas of the wildfire zone where cell towers have been knocked out of service. “Can’t burn down a tower when there is no tower,” Ben Longmier, SpaceX’s senior director of satellite engineering, said on X.

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Amazon revs up for the internet satellite market

Atlas V launch of prototype Amazon Kuiper satellites in 2023
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket sends two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to orbit in 2023. (ULA Photo)

Get ready for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to pick up the pace in the megaconstellation space race.

So far, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite megaconstellation has dominated the market for broadband connectivity from low Earth orbit. In the nearly 10 years since SpaceX founder Elon Musk unveiled the project in Seattle, the Starlink network has attracted more than 5 million subscribers and more than $2 billion in U.S. government contracts (including work on the Starshield national security network).

But the year ahead promises to bring heightened competition: Like Starlink, Project Kuiper aims to offer high-speed internet access from the skies for hundreds of millions of people around the world who are currently underserved.

Following up on last year’s successful test of two prototype satellites, Amazon plans to begin launching operational Kuiper satellites in early 2025, with service due to begin by the end of the year. Pricing details haven’t yet been announced, but Amazon says “affordability is a key principle of Project Kuiper.”

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Blue Origin wins a new customer for New Glenn launches

Illustration: AST SpaceMobile satellites in orbit
An artist’s conception shows AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird satellites in orbit. (AST SpaceMobile Illustration)

AST SpaceMobile plans to use Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket to launch some of the satellites for its space-based cellular broadband network in 2025 and 2026.

New Glenn has been under development at Jeff Bezos’ privately held space venture for more than a decade. Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin says the orbital-class rocket’s first launch is “on track” to take place this year at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Texas-based AST SpaceMobile is one of several satellite companies that have struck deals for New Glenn launches in advance of the rocket’s first mission.

“New Glenn’s performance and unprecedented capacity within its seven-meter fairing enables us to deploy more of our Block 2 BlueBird satellites in orbit, helping provide continuous cellular broadband service coverage across some of the most in-demand cellular markets globally,” Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

“It’s an honor to support AST SpaceMobile’s deployment of their next-generation BlueBird satellites, which will expand connectivity across the globe and positively impact many lives,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said. “New Glenn is purpose-built for these kinds of innovative and ambitious missions.”

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Starfish Space raises $29M for orbital servicing vehicles

Illustration: Otter spacecraft in orbit
An artist’s conception shows an Otter spacecraft in orbit. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space today announced that it has raised $29 million to support the development of its first three Otter orbital servicing vehicles for missions serving the U.S. Space Force, NASA and Intelsat.

The investment round was led by Shield Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm specializing in advanced technologies in fields ranging from space to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Other major participants in the round include new investors such as Point 72 Ventures, Booz Allen Ventures, Aero X Ventures, Trousdale Ventures and TRAC VC, plus existing investors such as Munich Re Ventures, Toyota Ventures, NFX and Industrious Ventures.

Initial word of the funding round came in September, in a regulatory filing and a GeekWire report. At the time, Starfish declined to comment on the investment. Today, Starfish co-founder Austin Link hailed the fresh infusion of capital in a news release.

“This new round of funding is a pivotal moment in the journey of Starfish Space, as it will allow us to launch the first Otter satellites to orbit,” Link said. “These first Otters will change what is possible when it comes to operating satellites in space. We are excited to partner with an outstanding group of investors to make these missions happen, and proud of the growing support we’ve received from existing investors as part of this round.”

Starfish’s Otter spacecraft is designed to rendezvous with satellites in orbit to inspect them and link up with them, either for servicing or for safe disposal. The system makes use of several innovative technologies, including Starfish’s Cetacean and Cephalopod navigation and docking software systems and the Nautilus orbital capture mechanism.

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Starfish Space will lend a hand to spy satellite agency

Illustration: Starfish's Otter spacecraft in orbit
Artwork shows the Otter spacecraft in orbit near another satellite. (Starfish Space Illustration)

Tukwila, Wash.-based Starfish Space and two other companies have won contracts from the National Reconnaissance Office, America’s spy satellite agency, to evaluate advanced technologies for space operations.

Starfish’s work for the NRO will focus on potential applications for the startup’s Otter spacecraft, which is designed to inspect and hook up with other satellites in orbit, either for servicing or for safe disposal.

“This collaboration offers a valuable opportunity to assess how Otter can enhance our national space-based intelligence infrastructure,” Starfish Space said today in a posting to X / Twitter.

The contracts were awarded under terms laid out by the NRO’s Office of Space Launch for a program known as Broad Agency Announcements for Agile Launch Innovation and Strategic Technology Advancement, or BALISTA. Eric Zarybnisky, the director of the Office of Space Launch, said in a statement that the BALISTA effort will help NRO “advance emerging technologies across launch, on-orbit support, and command and control.”

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